Protection
by wolfsrainrules
Summary: Bruce had been on his own with the fear and the whispers for a very long time. He dealt with it. The Avengers will NOT deal with it. Especially when someone goes much too far. Now the Avengers will be living up to their name. No pairings, but take it as you will, possible OOC
1. Chapter 1

**So…Avengers. I am in love with that movie and its characters (I WANT A JARVIS DAMN IT) I am also A **HUGE** Protective! Injured! Poisoned! ALMOSTDIED! Team Bonding Whore. I admit this. I LOVE Whump! Bonding. I do. So…I decided I needed to contribute to the Avengers –are-protective-of-Bruce community. I am doing so now. This is set Post-Avengers after the Team has developed Family Bonds.**

**I DO NOT own the awesome that is Avengers. (I **still** want a JARVIS like no one's business though) The (…) are not A/Ns they are Bruce's thoughts on the matters.**

Summary: Bruce had been on his own with the fear and the whispers for a very long time. He dealt with it. The Avengers will NOT deal with it. Especially when someone goes much too far. Now the Avengers will be living up to their name

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Bruce…wasn't used to this yet.

For much, much too long he had been running, from people, from himself, from bonds, and especially stress. Bruce had been running for a very long time.

He had gotten used to never staying in one place, never having anything he couldn't fit in one duffle, not always having running water, electricity, (Especially that- They could track him easier with that) an actual bed, actual sleep, (He wasn't safe, never ever safe) food, company (Want it want it so much want it, but not safe never safe)…all kinds of things everyone in the world seemed to take for granted.

He had gotten used to the fact that there would always, _always_, be someone the recognized him, there would always be someone trying to get him and kill or experiment on him, and there would always be whispers about 'Monster' and 'Dangerous' and 'Better off dead'.

He was used to that. He had even tried once to kill himself. The Other Guy did _not_ like that.

What he was _not_ used to was…This.

He wasn't used to Staying in one place, (Home, it was home) Tony showering him with things he "**needed**" to have, (He didn't _need_ a cell phone, more clothes than he could shake a stick at-…well maybe that one, knick-knacks he had never been able to keep before…) he wasn't used to _having_ running water, electricity, (Safe, Tony made it safe no one could track him here) an actual bed, actual sleep, (He could **sleep** here!) food (God he loved having three meals a day and as many Blueberries as he could get his hands on in between), company (Odd dysfunctional, insane, powerful company). He wasn't used to being able to "Speak Genius" with someone who could keep up and he most certainly wasn't used to being able to do what he wanted whenever he wanted to do it.

Bruce could adjust to all that, was adjusting to all that, but what _still_ floored him was the fact that he and The Other Guy were accepted here, that he was _**Safe**_ here, (When had he ever been able to use that word and mean it before?) that he wasn't feared (He thought they were insane, but he already knew that didn't he?).

He was adjusting. He was beginning to believe he was safe here with the rest of the team. He was relaxing for the first time in he didn't even know anymore.

With his track record he supposed he should have known _something_ was going to happen.

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**Deliberately short since that was set-up chapter. I should have the next chapter out later today or some time tomorrow though so breathe. ^^**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey~**

**Here's chapter 2! ^^ Also: CLINT'S SONG….Is Innocent by Taylor Swift. Go Readers. Listen to the song. Go. The (…) in each chapter will reflect the Characters Inner Thoughts on the stuff happening around them, or a mini-flashback to a conversation without having a flashback. It's not just Bruce this time. I'll try to make it obvious who is who. **

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The Avengers had noticed that Bruce was the subject of many stares and whispers. Not the good kind either. Natasha recognized the look in some of the SHEILD agents' faces. It was a fear that could quickly cause problems. The kind of fear that makes people do very stupid things at the drop of a hat. (She dared them to try anything. This was her team. _**Her**_ team and no one messed with her team.)

Clint recognized that look too. He'd even seen it in the mirror a few times as a kid. The kind of fear that one tries to hide desperately because _no one_ can know, especially the person that fear is directed at, and Clint knew people suffering from that fear would lash-out the first chance they got at the cause. (He was extra vigilant around Bruce for this reason only. No one would touch any of _**his**_ team while he was watching their back.)

Thor didn't understand why everyone was wary around Banner. He was a good man…a very good man. He understood that Banner could turn into the, as the Man of Iron called him, ' Giant Green Rage Monster', but…That was not Banner. Even he could see Banner was a good man, one of the most composed controlled men he had ever met, and he wasn't even from this planet! (Except when the Beast showed up, but that was not _Banner_ even though it _was_ Banner, and even then The Hulk was…protective of all of them in his own way).

Tony thought they all were idiots. Every one of them. Hulk was not just a rage monster. He was more than that even if a lot of SHEILD agents were being stupid about that fact. Honestly. Bruce was fine; he wouldn't Hulk-Out unless someone did something really stupid. As in stupid enough for Tony to make their lives horrible afterwards. ("No Director Fury, I can honestly say I didn't hack into that Agent's Accounts and spread around some of his less savory embarrassing moments. Yes I know I'm supposedly the only with any reason who can cause his Credit Score to drop like that, but I didn't do that either." What Tony doesn't say? He had JARVIS do it.)

Steve had served time in the Army. He knew good men when he saw them and Bruce was a good man. The Hulk…well… he just had a bit of an anger problem, but he wasn't a monster like he had heard some SHEILD agent whispering about. ("Yes Director Fury, I did lecture your Agent so badly I made him cry, but I didn't tell Stark about what they had said so he would make sure they never talk about Bruce like that again." What Steve doesn't mention? He told Clint, and may have told him to tell Tony. Maybe.)

It was through these observations and these individual conclusions that the Avengers noticed Bruce didn't react to any of it. That fact made them angry, because they knew he reacted this way because he had it enforced in his head that everything these Agents and these people on the streets were saying was true.

He was a monster.

He was better off dead.

He shouldn't be here.

He was a risk.

He'd kill them all.

It made them angry, so angry, because Bruce was _**theirs**_ damn it and _none_ of that was true. The fact that Bruce took that verbal abuse, and did nothing, expected nothing to be done for him…Well…It brought out the Ironman, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Thunder God, and the Captain America in each of them. It roused every protective Family instinct they had. If Bruce was going to take the abuse and do nothing… (Which honestly, that right there proved all the bad-mouthing Bastards wrong, because if it were _true_ Bruce would have Hulked-Out and given them a reason for the whispers and looks) Well if Bruce would do nothing, they would do something for him.

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**I so lied. XD There's **SO** going to be a third update.**

**I couldn't help myself. I HAD to do a chapter from the Avengers POV.**

**NEXT chapter will be where stuff starts happening. XP**

**To those Anonymous Reviewers: THANK YOU! **


	3. Chapter 3

**So Avengers category is apparently Anonymous Review Central XD. Thanks for the Reviews you guys!**

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Nick Fury was a smart man.

He had to be to get where he was.

It was for this reason he dreaded telling the Avengers what he had just found out. He knew, he _knew_ with a bone-deep certainty that shit was about to bypass the fan completely and hit a nuke as soon as he told them that Bruce had never made it to his mission destination, which it turned out the mission was completely staged to get ahold of the good Doctor anyway.

He also knew the longer he put off telling them the bigger the explosion would be.

He sighed and decided to get it over with. The Avengers would find out soon anyway since they all had developed a habit of calling someone from the team the moment they landed when they went on solo missions so everyone knew they were fine or at least telling the team they wouldn't be able to call on arrival if it wasn't possible. The others would be waiting for that call since Bruce hadn't said he wouldn't be calling, and when they didn't get it… Nick shook his head and dialed the Stark Tower where the Avengers had taken residence. JARVIS answered the call "Can I help you Mr. Fury?"

He took a deep breath. "JARVIS who's in the tower right now?"

There was a second of silence "Mr. Barton is in residence sir."

Nick cursed in his head. He was hoping to get it over with all at once and tell the Team in one go. "Tell him to be on the roof and ready for pick up. This is important."

There was a pause before JARVIS answered him in a curious and worried tone. "Of course sir. May I inquire as to why?"

Of course Stark would make a _feeling_ AI. "No JARVIS. I will be the one to tell him." Oh did Nick want to take the AI up on the implied offer to give Barton the message, but it would be worse if Barton was left on the ground inside Stark Tower when he found out.

"Yes Sir." The line went dead and Nick pulled a fortifying breath in. He quickly changed their destination for Stark Tower and wondered how he was going to break the news to Agent Barton. He wanted to rub his temples, but he had a reputation to uphold, and ten shot minutes to come up with a way to break the news to Barton that ended with nothing getting destroyed. He didn't have time to rub his temples. He allowed himself a soft sigh before heading for his office in the Flying Aircraft Carrier with instructions left to Agent Hill that Barton was to be brought straight to him.

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Clint was a little apprehensive. Fury had summoned him for something "important", and when the Director had told him he was on vacation a for a week two days ago…well…he knew something had to be wrong.

He wasn't sure he wanted to know whatever it was that was wrong anyway.

Tony was in a staff meeting or something Pepper had dragged him to, so he didn't think it was something Tony had done. (He tended to behave much better in Pepper's presence)

Thor was on his way to pick up his 'Lady Jane' and he wouldn't want to mess that up so it was unlikely he had anything to do with Fury calling him in from his vacation.

Steve and Tasha were on a mission together- they were due back today some time actually- so he knew why they weren't being called in.

That left two options for Clint.

The first: There was some _other_ maniac bent on world domination again and he was being called in to put an arrow through their eye. (It had _**better**_ be option one.)

The second: (It better not be) Something had happened with Bruce on his mission. (If it _was_ this option he wasn't just shooting someone in the eye. He was pulling their eye out and shoving it up their ass so they could _**watch**_ him shove an exploding arrow up there. Then they could watch the other Avengers kick their ass.)

He was standing on the landing pad Tony had installed on the tower for this purpose as he waited to be picked up. He didn't have to wait long, and soon he was climbing into the flying Aircraft Carrier and being escorted to Fury directly. (Whatever this was it _really_ wasn't good, especially since Fury was insisting he dealt with this personally and immediately rather than having Phil- who _wasn't_ dead thank the lord, he had only been in a coma- or Hill give him a debriefing as they normally did.)

Fury was standing facing the window as he spoke to Clint, watching the world pass by under the Carrier. "Barton."

Clint tensed. That tone was bad.

"I have spent the last ten minutes trying to think of a way to say this that will keep everything in your vicinity whole."

Clint tensed further. This was _really, __**really**_ bad. Fury was being as open as he got. That was his way of telling you it was going to be bad, whatever he was going to say. There was only one thing that would make Clint want to destroy his boss' office that he could think of. He hoped he was wrong even though he knew he wouldn't be.

"I have not been able to come up with a way that will achieve that. So I will just tell you." Nick turned to face the member of his favorite Team. (Not that he would _ever_ admit to that) Clint was tense and waiting. "We have received news back from the team we sent with Dr. Banner. The mission he was sent on was an elaborate set up specifically meant to get Dr. Banner there alone. It appears to be something that was planned for a long time, and it has succeeded."

Clint's entire body had frozen and he could feel cold rage digging its fingers into him as he thought about what he was being told.

One: Someone was specifically after Bruce

Two: The mission was a set up.

Three: They had sent Bruce right into that set up.

Four: Bruce had no one he could trust to watch his back, only some random SHEILD agents.

Five: If he knew his teammate- and he did- Bruce would give himself up for those agents before he let The Other Guy deal with his attackers because he wouldn't want to hurt those agents.

He managed to hiss a question at Nick, barely holding onto his rage. "Where did they take him?"

Nick frowned "We don't know."

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**It Begins! MWAHAHAH! **

**Next: We find out who has Bruce, and the team finds out someone screwed with Bruce.**

**Possibility: Do you want to see a bit of Bruce? Or would you rather the entire next chapter be all bout the Team mobilizing? **


	4. Chapter 4

**You guys are awesome 0v0 I love you all~~ The Bruce option won so Mobilizing will take place next chapter. Enjoy! Happy Late (American) Thanksgiving Everyone! I am thankful for all of you!**

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Bruce had no idea what was happening.

The last thing he remembered was the quinjet getting attacked. Bruce tried to sit up only to realize he couldn't move at all. He fought not to panic; he really didn't want to deal with The Other Guy in an unknown situation.

"_Ok Bruce…Think. You were on a quinjet…there was an explosion. Some of the crew went to look at what had happened. They were armed…"_ Bruce could see the scene flashing in front of his eyes. He could feel his heart accelerate with remembered adrenaline. _"Then there were gunshots…and people in black came out. They were after me! I turned myself over after they almost blew up the quinjet…Oh Hell."_ Where ever he was it couldn't be good. He fought for calm again before opening his eyes to really take in his surroundings.

He was inside a hospital-like lab. Bruce could see equipment on all sides of his bed and it was making him nervous. He wanted to clean his glasses, but those weren't even on his face.(He knew it was a tell of his that he was nervous, but it calmed him down) He was only making out blurred shapes at the moment. He had been in the hospital fixing up his teammates enough times to know what it looked like, even blurred out of focus, so he knew this room he was in (where ever it was) was at least resembling a hospital. He had been in a lab enough times to recognize some of that equipment in here as well. (Even if it was mediocre compared to Tony's lab.)

There was the sound of a door opening and footsteps approaching his side and Bruce tensed.

"Bruce, Bruce, Bruce." Bruce felt his insides freeze. (Oh Please No. Anyone but him. Bruce could deal with anyone but him.) "You stayed in one place too long. Did you think you were safe there?" the man walked into view and Bruce could recognize his blurred form anywhere.

His stomach dropped out of his feet and he could feel the Other Guy roar wordlessly in rage and _hate_ so much hate. "You." Bruce rasped through a suddenly dry throat. The Other Guy was struggling to come to the surface and Bruce felt the first true roots of fear dig into his heart when he realized the Other Guy actually couldn't surface. (He couldn't believe he was unhappy with that thought, but in this case Bruce thought he could make an exception. He wanted out.) "What did you do to me?"

The man smiled "Ah, you noticed? We pumped you full of a sedative made especially for you. It will keep the Monster from surfacing until we want him to surface as well as prevent you from making any escape attempts. Welcome to Hell Bruce. Where _I_ am the judge, the jury, and the executioner. I would say 'enjoy your stay' but you won't. Not it I have anything to do with it. As a General it is my place to protect the people, and I will protect them from you."

The longer General Ross talked the more Bruce could feel himself panicking. This man was the only man Bruce honestly feared and to learn he was in his 'care' for any length of time…Bruce was ten seconds away from a full-blown panic attack. _"Oh God, please no. Please, please, please…Let the others find me."_

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Fury had been right. The minute he had told Clint 'we don't know' he had destroyed the closest desk with a punch. (Fury had moved the paperwork. He didn't want to reorganize it all when Barton broke something like he had known he would) "You don't _know?_"

Fury stared at him "We don't know. We're working on it right now, but we don't know. I don't have anything for you."

Clint was frozen in rage. He wanted to destroy everything. He wanted to escape, to go somewhere high. He wanted to shoot Fury for not knowing. He wanted to shoot whoever took Bruce more, and most of all he wanted to save Bruce.

Bruce was a part of _his_ team, and as the man with the best eyes he was the one that watched his back. Clint hadn't been there to watch out for him, and now he was somewhere getting God knows what done to him. Clint took a deep breath. Raging around his bosses office wouldn't get anything done, but he knew what would. He took another breath and looked into Fury's eyes. "Sir, I'm taking a quinjet to make some pickups. I'll be back."

Fury knew there was no stopping Clint right now, so he gave him the 'okay.' Clint whipped around and stalked out of the office. Anyone that saw him coming either pressed themselves against the wall or suddenly remembered they needed to be in a completely different hallway, but they all scrambled to get out of his way.

Clint stalked to the closest quinjet and turned on the com link that connected to the other Avengers. They all had one and they all kept them in their ear. They were always on unless they were in the tower. Bruce's channel was nothing but static. That made him nervous since Tony had messed with all of them and upgraded them. That nervousness quickly turned into anger. "Natasha." His voice was cold and calculating.

"Clint? What happened?"

"Where are you and Steve?"

"We're walking into the tower, Clint what happened?"

"Get to the roof. I'm picking you up. I'll explain later." Clint didn't think he could explain more than once that Bruce had been taken somewhere or he'd break things. Important things that he needed to fly right now.

"Understood."

Clint headed that way and switched his Com link to connect to Tony.

"What is it Robin Hood?"

"Tony where are you?"

"On my way back to the tower. What's got your panties in a twist?"

Clint took a calming breath. "Meet me there. I'm picking up Tasha and Steve."

There was silence for a second as Tony took in his tone and realized something serious had happened. "I'm on my way."

Clint nodded despite the fact Tony couldn't see him and switched his com again he was greeted by a loud voice "Hawk Man! Has something happened? I thought you had been given Leave a few days ago?"

Clint flinched lightly since Thor had yet to realize he didn't need to yell for the Com Link to pick up his voice. "Yes. I need to pick you up. Where are you?"

"I was journeying to visit Lady Jane, but I will turn around if you have need of me."

"I would appreciate it."

"Then I am on my way my friend."

Clint fought to breathe evenly. He approached the tower and could see Steve and Natasha waiting, still suited up. He landed and let them climb into the quinjet without a word. They boarded quickly and stared at him. "Clint?" Natasha was the one to break the silence.

He turned to look at the two of them still not saying a word. They were silent as they took in his face before Natasha slipped into the copilot seat and Steve sat down in the back. They could tell from his face something really bad had happened and he wouldn't say anything until they were all there.

Clint knew Tony was on his way to the tower already so he made no effort to fly anywhere else; instead he stood from his seat and paced like a caged panther. Steve and Natasha watched him silently becoming more and more worried as they watched the normally calm man move around like he wanted to break the world.

Clint had battle plans whirling around his head like the wind of a twister. He knew he couldn't really plan until he knew where Bruce was, but he planned anyway. His pacing got faster and faster as he ran through possible scenarios Bruce could be in. His fingers twitched with the need to shoot something. (The person that had Bruce) He didn't like any of them. He constantly glanced at the ramp that the others would come up as he paced and planned.

"Clint you're making me dizzy. Sit still." Natasha spoke up after a few minutes of watching the near-run Clint was doing as he paced.

"Can't" Clint continued to pace. He knew he would be incapable of sitting still right now. He glanced up when he heard the sound of Tony's thrusters. There was a thump and then a clanging as Tony walked up the ramp to join them in the quinjet. He took in the scene and said nothing, only sat next to Steve. By this time he knew his team well enough to know he wouldn't be getting answers until everyone was present, and he could tell it was going to be bad whatever the news was, so he even kept his comments to himself.

Thor arrived soon after Tony and joined the others inside the quinjet. Clint looked at his team and they stared back at him. "What happened Clint?" Natasha finally asked what they wanted to know.

Clint fought the fresh surge of rage before answering. "Bruce is gone."

There was silence and then Tony broke it "What?"

Clint started pacing again "Fury called me in. Said something about "Important" so I get there. He tells me Bruce never made it to his mission sight, that it was all a long-term set up that had been planned to get ahold of him. Fury said it worked and he has no idea where he is."

Clint can see and _feel_ the fury fill his teammates. The same fury he was wrestling with. He watches their eyes harden and burn. He watches muscles tense and spasm. He watched hands clench and twitch with the need for a weapon. He sees them wrestle the rage down and start plotting. "Get us to Fury. We have information to find." Steve finally breaks the silence with a command that Clint is all too willing to follow and Clint sits down in the Pilot's seat and sets them towards the Flying Aircraft Carrier.

They had a teammate to save.


End file.
